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Chapter 6 |
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Agonist drug that is capable of binding with receptors to induce a cellular response Antagonist drug that blocks the response of another drug Efficacy the ability of a drug to produce a desired response Frequency response curve graphical representation that illustrates interpatient variability in responses to drugs Graded dose response relationship between and measurement of the patient's response obtained at different doses of a drug Idiosyncratic response unpredictable and unexplained drug reaction Median effective dose (ED50) dose required to produce a specific therapeutic response in 50% of a group of patients Median lethal dose (LD50) often determined in preclinical trials, the dose of drug that will be lethal in 50% of a group of animals Median toxicity dose (TD50) dose that will produce a given toxicity in 50% of a group of patients Nonspecific cellular responses drug action that is independent of cellular receptors, and not associated with other mechanisms, such as changing the permeability of cellular membranes, depressing membrane excitability, or altering the activity of cellular pumps Partial agonist medication that produces a weaker, or less efficacious, response than an agonist Pharmacodynamics the study of how the body responds to drugs Pharmacogenetics the area of pharmacology that examines the role of genetics in drug response Potency the strength of a drug at a specified concentration or dose Receptor the structural component of a cell to which a drug binds in a dose-related manner, to produce a response Second messenger cascade of biochemical events that initiates a drug's action by either stimulating or inhibiting a normal activity of the cell Therapeutic index the ratio of a drug's LD50 to its ED50
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